Kyle Trager
Kyle Trager is the fictional main character from the ABC Family series Kyle XY and is portrayed by Matt Dallas. Fictional biography Subject 781227 was created as a robotic killing machine for Adam Baylin's theories on human brain growth during gestation. He followed an earlier theory of Einstein that lengthening the time spent in the "womb" would allow far greater brain growth for the human inside. Baylin's own DNA was used to create 781227, and was placed in a gestation chamber of Baylin's design where he survived for 16 years. However he was then exploited by the company funding the project, Zzyzx. Straying from their founder's original vision, Zzyzx intended to use subject 781227 as a super-soldier/brain to their own benefit. To them, he was nothing more than an organic computer. Tom Foss even witnessed Professor William Kern attempting to upload strategic warfare files to 781227's brain, which were rejected with every try. After showing a "conscience" and absorbing all of the information from Zzyzx files, Kern ordered 781227 terminated. Foss, who had been working with and watching over the subject, managed to revive the lifeless body outside of the facility as Kern approached to give chase. After killing Kern to protect the subject, Foss was forced to leave him behind unconscious. His first memories were of waking in the forest, adjusting to the use of his senses. After a time wandering, he ventured into the city where he was soon arrested for indecent exposure and taken to a juvenile correction center. Due to the strange nature of the case, it was eventually turned over to therapist Nicole Trager, who reluctantly accepted. She suggested that the center was not the healthiest environment for him, and decided to move him in with her family. Much like an infant, he absorbed the information and sensations around him. However, his learning curve was far quicker. Within days he had learned how to speak and emulated physical actions of others. In time his accomplishments would include swimming to the level of an olympic champ, extensive knowledge and acing an IQ test in 5 minutes. He was given the name "Kyle" as his progress continued. One morning Kyle's attention shifted to the house next door upon hearing a beautiful sound. As he entered the house, he found Amanda Bloom playing the piano and shed tears as he realized that nobody else would be able to enjoy the music which represented the most beautiful sounds in the world to him. He left the house abruptly as Mrs. Bloom and Amanda realized he has been standing there. Later on the day, he met Amanda upon her mother's complaining of Kyle's intrusion and soon developed a crush on her. For his own protection, Kyle was taken away by his claimed parents, the Petersons, who were actually hired to bring him to Adam Baylin. After a few days with Adam and after his questions are answered, Adam is shot in the heart by a Zzyzx sniper, but doesn't die (revealed in later episode "Leap of Faith") Kyle and Foss argue many things, and despite Kyle's protests, Tom ends up blowing up a Zzyzx facility, and unknowingly allows Jessi XX to escape. After arguing with Tom again, Kyle decides to move back with the Tragers. They share a tender moment, and Kyle knows that he is home, with his family. After much time and deliberation, Kyle is officially accepted as a part of the Trager family. Origin The typical gestation period for a human being is 40 weeks. Albert Einstein spent several weeks longer in his mother's womb. Einstein believed the extra time before birth gave his brain more time to develop, and was why he perceived the universe differently from others. In the universe of Kyle XY, Einstein conducted a series of secret experiments in the 1920s. He tested the idea of extending natural pregnancy; mostly on primates, hoping the animals would develop superior brains. When the experiments failed, Einstein abandoned the project. However, other scientists were still intrigued. They resurrected the experiments in the 1950s, this time without Einstein and under tighter secrecy. They decided to implant human embryos into surrogate human mothers. After many failures there was one successful pregnancy; a healthy thirteenth month gestation. Unfortunately, the surrogate mother died when the child was born. The child was named Adam Baylin. Baylin founded Zzyzx out of his hope to create children with more sophisticated brains; children that could enlighten the world and advance civilization. So he continued the experiment. However he didn't want to harm any surrogate mothers. Instead he worked for years developing an artificial womb. Finally, he designed a chamber (pod) that he believed could work and he invented a fluid that would provide oxygen and nourish the embryo placed inside so there would be no need for a natural mother. The only foreseeable side effect was that without the need for an umbilical cord, the child would not have a navel. The first embryo was created by Baylin from Baylin's own DNA and gestated inside a pod at Zzyzx. Taking the principle of the project to an extreme, the subject was kept in the pod for sixteen years before the boy who would soon be called Kyle wakes up in a forest because he was dumped there after riding in Foss' truck and witnessing a murder. Abilities After the continuation of Einstein's experiments, Kyle was left in the gestation tank for a long period of time, obtaining a brain superior to everyone else's, including Adam Baylin. Kyle has the ability to retain information and learn extremely fast. He learned to talk in only one day, and is able to solve complicated equations simply by looking at them. He's also an expert at predicting the weather, being able to smell climate changes and increased moisture in the air. Kyle also has vast physical abilities. He is able to jump off a building unharmed and swim at an Olympic level speed. His reflexes seem superhuman, allowing him to dodge a bully's punch effortlessly. He can jump much higher than a normal human and uses his advanced knowledge of physics to have a type of amazingly precise aim, which also allows him to excel at basketball. His ability to learn quickly has allowed him to mimic anything he sees such as martial arts on television, dance moves, etc. At the end of season 1, Kyle discovered he could drown out particular noises, giving him an acute sense of hearing. Though the exact range is unknown, Kyle heard people from at least fifteen feet away, as well as through surfaces such as walls and closed doors. This ability has become so powerful that Kyle can even hear heartbeats from various distances. When Kyle and Amanda had to identify a thief, Kyle hears his heartbeat and realizes the criminal has a heart condition. Kyle sent an unsigned letter to the man, who is now in custody, warning him to get his heart checked out. Kyle is able to use his brain to change the polarity of the cells in his body. In being able to do this, he is able to attract and repel water molecules. This is the basis of many of Kyle's ability (levitating, stop people in their tracks). Kyle also has the ability to change the gravitational field around object, allowing them to be manipulated from a distance (as demonstrated in "It Happened One Night" with the scapels). This ability is not explained as well as the polarity shifting. Kyle's brain is so powerful, he's managed to develop the mental equivalent of a firewall. It's what prevented Zzyzx from being able to control him and from "getting inside his head." After Tom Foss gets Kyle to walk on hot coals as an exercise he is able to later walk into a burning building to get an unconscious girl out to save her life. Though walking out of the building on fire Kyle is not burned though his clothes have obvious burned holes in them. Declan and Nicole Trager both see Kyle is unharmed when he should be severely burned. Tom Foss also indicates that Kyle could be able to levitate, contain some sort of pain management demonstrated by body piercings, and control autonomic body systems like breathing or heart beat. Kyle has also been known to read minds, as seen in episode 11, "Hands on a Hybrid" where he says "I think I just read your mind." In a recent episode, Kyle gained the power to search through his memories as if he were re-experiencing them referred to as a holographic memory. In "Ghost of the Machine," Kyle sees into the past and realizes he had downloaded all of Zzyxz files and developed conscious thought, which the Zzyzx team did not think possible. In Hands on a Hybrid, Kyle has started to reveal the power of telepathy, when he helps Jessi to remember some of her past. Another ability is to heal others; for example it is hinted that he cured Andy's cancer and that he brought Jessi back to life when she overused her powers. Currently, on record now, Kyle now has the ability to levitate and affect another person's movements by manipulating water molecules, and spray something with water, touch it, and drop the temperature so ice will form and crack the object. More of his new powers include his enhanced vision, allowing him to see in the dark, and the ability to carry an electrical current. Family & relationships Kyle was cloned using Adam Baylin's DNA. In a sense, Adam can be considered his biological father, but Kyle does not seem to take this notion as seriously anymore. He has most recently described Adam as his "friend and mentor." Stephen and Nicole Trager are Kyle's legal guardians as they officially adopted him in Season 2. Their children, Lori and Josh, in turn refer to him as their brother. His best friend is Declan McDonough and he was in a romantic relationship with Amanda Bloom; however, in the season three episode entitled "Electric Kiss" had broken up due to Amanda witnessing Kyle kissing Jessi. Tom Foss can be considered Kyle's "protector." Kyle has referred to him as a friend and at one point called him his guardian angel as well as patron saint. External links * ABC Family: Kyle XY - Official TV Show Website Category:Kyle XY characters Category:Television superheroes Category:Child superheroes Category:Child characters in television Category:Fictional child prodigies Category:Fictional adoptees Category:Fictional clones Category:Fictional genetically engineered characters Category:Fictional telepaths Category:Fictional characters with eidetic memory Category:Fictional characters with superhuman strength Category:2006 introductions